It was only 11 months ago that Jimmy Rollins famously called Philadelphia baseball fans "front runners." (An aside - I wonder what THEY are calling Jimmy these days?)

Well, Phillies fans have got nothing on Rays fans. Because Rays fans apparently don't exist.

In Tuesday's Phillies-Rays game at Tropicana Field, the first regular season meeting of the two 2008 World Series foes, the ballpark was barely half full. There were 19,608 fans (the place holds 36,973).

That's both sad and weak.

You'd imagine true blue baseball fans in the Tampa area would not only revel in the World Series rematch, but also with the opportunity to see guys like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, who rarely come to town (it was an interleague game). That's not to mention their own team is stacked with All-Stars (Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford and budding star B.J. Upton).

Or the fact that the team was throwing top-prospect David Price at the defending World Series champs.

And yet, the ballpark is basically empty and lifeless.

(Another aside - it was borderline unhealthy hot here yesterday (a heat index at somewhere around 105 degrees; BUT, the ballpark is very comfortable, since it's indoors and air-conditioned).

Here's a little of what Rays coaches/management said after the game to the St. Pete Times:

Manager Joe Maddon, whose team lost 10-1:

"The mood lighting was not very good tonight. It's kind of awkward when you get to this point and all of a sudden the majority of the crowd is for the other side."

Rays president Matt Silverman, on what was the lowest attendance ever for a first-time World Series rematch:

"As we were planning for the season, we circled this series as one of the most compelling of the year. It's a rare privilege to host a rematch of the World Series, especially against a team with local connections. Based on all the information we had, we projected full houses. It's a huge miss."

"Quite frankly, we don't know what to attribute it to, but it's not just the economy. It’s bewildering. There seems to be great affection for the team and excitement for the '09 campaign, but it's not showing up at the gate at all."

"A matchup of World Series teams would clearly have drawn a good deal better in every other baseball market."

The Rays are averaging just 22,703 fans a night, which is almost 7,000 less than the major league average (29,562) entering Tuesday night.